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How many guns are sold in the US?

Do we know how many guns are actually sold in America? See what the data says 

• List of NICS applications by state 
• Download the data 
• More data journalism and data visualisations from the Guardian

How many gun are sold in the US each year? Completed 9mm caliber cartridges are seen at Stone Hart Manufacturing, Miami, Florida. Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

If you want to find out exactly how many guns are sold in the US each year, then the figures are not recorded.

However, if you want to know how many applications there are to buy guns each year, then the latest data from the FBI shows that 2012 looks like a bumper year for gun sales in America.

In the wake of the Newtown shooting in Connecticut, there is a renewed focus on gun control in the US. And, under US law, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System is used to check if someone can buy a gun from a federal registered dealer before they can walk out of the shop with it.

Before ringing up the sale, cashiers call in a check to the FBI or to other designated agencies to ensure that each customer does not have a criminal record or isn't otherwise ineligible to make a purchase.

The figures show that there have been 16,808,538 applications in 2012 so far to the end of November. If they were approved, that would beenough weapons to stock every member of Nato's armed forces nearly five times over. The system has received 156,577,260 applications since 1998 and the US has the highest gun ownership rate in the world.

68,584,078 of the total applications since 1998 have been for 'long guns' such as rifles, usually a minimum length of 16 inches (40 cm) for rifle barrels - that is 43.8% of all applications.

The figures are also broken down by state - and they show that of those 16.8m applications, a huge amount come from Kentucky: 2,329,151, followed by Texas with 1,196,176 applications.

If you look at those figures by population for 2012, then Kentucky has had 535.78 applications for every 1,000 people in the state, followed by Montana with 116.95. The US average for 2012 is 53.94.

Of course, not all applications are approved. Reasons for denial include being convicted of a crime in the last two years, having a dishonorable discharge from the military or mental health problems. The latest figures show that being convicted of a crime (which is the easiest to check after all) is responsible for 58.65% of the 976,255 denials under the system.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also records figures for weapons stocked under the National Firearms act, which regulates and taxes many of the most serious weapons. It shows a record high in these weapons being processed this year.

The full data is below. What have we missed and what can you add?

Data summary

NICS applications by state Click heading to sort table. Download this data
STATE	TOTAL APPLICATIONS, NOV 1998 TO NOV 2012	TOTAL, Jan to Nov 2012	2012 Rate per 1,000 population
SOURCE: FBI These statistics represent the number of firearm background checks initiated through the NICS. They do not represent the number of firearms sold. Based on varying state laws and purchase scenarios, a one-to-one correlation cannot be made between a firearm background check and a firearm sale.
UNITED STATES	156,577,260	16,808,538	53.94
Alabama	3,749,099	350,780	73.30
Alaska	714,007	72,904	102.09
Arizona	2,675,937	290,868	45.35
Arkansas	2,514,731	207,363	70.98
California	10,714,573	981,798	26.29
Colorado	3,736,952	361,385	71.59
Connecticut	1,810,014	208,250	58.24
Delaware	256,059	25,098	27.89
District of Columbia	2,170	398	0.66
Florida	5,957,840	699,974	37.16
Georgia	4,559,627	386,562	39.80
Guam	5,934	819
Hawaii	121,737	15,414	11.31
Idaho	1,243,607	115,927	73.79
Illinois	8,399,271	923,920	71.95
Indiana	3,300,627	404,259	62.28
Iowa	1,530,528	128,293	42.06
Kansas	1,673,605	175,427	61.36
Kentucky	15,118,518	2,329,151	535.78
Louisiana	2,987,951	266,593	58.65
Maine	790,550	79,418	59.83
Mariana Islands	296	5
Maryland	1,239,350	117,432	20.30
Massachusetts	1,567,707	185,202	28.25
Michigan	4,817,185	370,960	37.56
Minnesota	3,516,313	385,075	72.51
Mississippi	2,390,007	180,121	60.65
Missouri	3,804,462	432,060	72.06
Montana	1,253,675	115,893	116.95
Nebraska	742,160	70,454	38.50
Nevada	1,076,544	123,943	45.83
New Hampshire	894,061	108,531	82.42
New Jersey	634,408	75,804	8.61
New Mexico	1,338,322	121,882	59.00
New York	2,849,970	290,299	14.97
North Carolina	4,427,820	415,284	43.44
North Dakota	590,720	73,878	109.51
Ohio	4,918,014	526,684	45.65
Oklahoma	2,841,850	307,245	81.71
Oregon	2,347,894	222,795	58.04
Pennsylvania	8,156,636	835,293	65.68
Puerto Rico	115,421	13,772	3.70
Rhode Island	169,915	20,180	19.17
South Carolina	2,320,334	265,276	57.21
South Dakota	744,106	73,658	90.20
Tennessee	4,166,503	432,200	67.98
Texas	11,724,997	1,196,176	47.37
Utah	2,967,949	198,091	71.37
Vermont	310,812	29,662	47.39
Virgin Islands	9,320	370
Virginia	3,524,638	371,267	46.27
Washington	3,631,035	444,762	65.96
West Virginia	2,059,912	191,550	103.30
Wisconsin	2,974,560	413,842	72.71
Wyoming	587,027	53,480	94.73

Download the data

• DATA: download the full spreadsheet

 

 

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